Brokerage revenue grew slightly for French brokerage Gras Savoye & Cie last year despite a soft insurance market and a global economy trying to recover from the financial crisis.

The more than 100-year-old Paris-based brokerage's strategy of building a presence across most lines of insurance helped it boost its total revenue slightly despite those tricky conditions, said Chairman and CEO Patrick Lucas.

Gross revenues grew less than 1% to e547 million ($776.2 million) in 2009 from e541.6 million ($797.6 million) in 2008. Brokerage revenues grew 1.4% to e541.6 million ($754.7 million) from e534 million ($786.4 million) in 2008 making Gras Savoye the 10th largest brokerage in the 2010 Business Insurance ranking.

The euro's weakness against the U.S. dollar in 2009 compared with 2008 turned a slight gain in euros into a slight decline when converted to dollars.

The soft market for most lines of insurance affected Gras Savoye's revenue growth, Mr. Lucas said.

“In most lines, competition is extremely aggressive. The market is still soft in most lines and there are no signs of hardening,” Mr. Lucas said. “This means we have to give more value for less money.”

The financial crisis also has affected the brokerage's revenues, he said.

For example, an increase in company bankruptcies has reduced demand for employee benefits business and numerous large construction projects have been postponed or canceled, which also has affected insurance demand, he said.

But Mr. Lucas said he is pleased with the way Gras Savoye has been able to weather these difficulties.

While French insurers' revenue grew 9% to more than e200 billion ($278.8 billion) in 2009, their net income dropped 34% to e6.2 billion ($8.64 billion), according to the Fédération Française des Sociétés d'Assurances. Challenging economic conditions hit property insurers the hardest, according to the Paris-based insurance association.

Gras Savoye, which started in 1907 as a family firm in Lille, France, and became the largest broker in France, has a significant position in most major areas of insurance.

“Over the past 20 years, we have been trying to build a strategic position in each line of insurance,” Mr. Lucas said. “I believe we have reached a strategic size for most areas of insurance,” he said.

This enables the company to offer clients a broad selection of products. If a client buys property coverage via Gras Savoye, for example, they may then seek to buy fine art coverage or equine coverage via the brokerage too, said Mr. Lucas. This is one way Gras Savoye is able to attract and retain clients, he said. “We are able to give cross-fertilization.”

One area that Mr. Lucas sees as having growth potential is employee benefits in France and abroad.

“Although we are the No. 1 (broker) for health care and employee benefits in France, we would still like to grow,” said Mr. Lucas, who said employee benefits accounts for about 30% of the broker's business.

He noted that Gras Savoye has begun broking employee benefits business in Africa, for example. In recent years, Gras Savoye has expanded from its base in France, where it has 30 branches, and now has offices in 40 countries.

As well as growth in Europe, Gras Savoye now has a significant presence in the Middle East and Africa. This year, Gras Savoye opened Gras Savoye Gulf Insurance Brokers Broker L.L.C. in Abu Dhabi.

This, the company said, completes its network in the Mediterranean/Middle East area. The brokerage opened an office in Egypt last year and also has branches in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia.

Gras Savoye is well-established in French-speaking African countries and may seek further growth in the region, Mr. Lucas said.

“We may expand in English-speaking countries in Africa. There is no urgency, but if there is an opportunity that makes sense,” then the brokerage may grow its African presence. “But there is no (specific) plan at this time,” he said.

Mr. Lucas said that Gras Savoye's usual method of expansion is to grow organically rather than by acquisition.

Gras Savoye has been an associate company of Willis Group Holdings P.L.C.—the world's third-largest brokerage, according to Business Insurance's ranking—since 1997 when Willis acquired a 33% stake in Gras Savoye. Willis' stake increased to 48.6% of voting rights until last November, when Willis and the family shareholders of Gras Savoye announced a reorganization of Gras Savoye's capital.

Under the new agreement, Paris-based private equity firm Astorg Partners acquired 33.3% of the voting rights of a new holding company while Willis and the Gras Savoye family shareholders sold some of their stake to Astorg Partners and rolled over the remainder into the new holding company.

Under this arrangement, Willis and Astorg Partners hold equal stakes of 31.8% in Gras Savoye and each have 33.3% voting rights on the company's board. The remaining stake is held by a pool of Gras Savoye employees.

The deal also gives Willis the option to buy 100% of the new holding company in 2015.

Willis used about $160 million of its proceeds from reducing its stake to pay down debt, but said it remained fully committed to its partnership with Gras Savoye.

Gras Savoye's links with Willis are of great use to the brokerage when targeting large, international business, Mr. Lucas said. For such business, “you need a network,” he said.

Gras Savoye often benchmarks itself against Willis and the links with Willis benefit both parties, he said.

During the coming years, the cooperation between the two firms likely will increase, he said.

One area where Willis and Gras Savoye's thinking is aligned is on the thorny issue of contingent commissions, Mr. Lucas said.

The brokerage has not taken any income in contingent commissions since 2004 except in very rare cases where it acts as an agent, he said. The number of such cases is on the decline, he added.